ARID A<;RI< I'LTURE. 1 1 3 



bent <iver so that a rubber boot will not be cut 

 when used to shove it in. In flooding from 

 Hel<l ditches seme kind of a lateral dam must be 

 used. The practice of damming these laterals 

 by means of earth thrown into them from the 

 sides of the ditches, is not to be recommended, as 

 it is apt to weaken the ditch banks and soon 

 makes holes in the farm. The canvas dam is 

 easily made and is thoroughly reliable. A piece 

 of canvas as wide, at least, as the ditch on which 

 it is to be used, and some three or four feet long, 

 should be tacked to a 2x-t scantling, or small 

 pole, so that when re-red across the top of the 

 ditch, the canvas will lie in the bottom of the 

 ditch up-stream. A little earth then thrown on 

 the lower edge to hold it down, will make a 

 strong dam. Perhaps no appliance is more es- 

 senrial than the canvas dam. Ten or twelve ounce 

 canvas is the best weight to use. Semi-circular 

 sheets of metal attached to a wooden cross-piece 

 are also used for this purpose. They are called 

 tapoons, and in use the edge of the tapoon is 

 shoved into the bed of the ditch, which the metal 

 should be made to fit. Gates for allowing a part 

 <f the water t<> continue on down the lateral may 

 be oasilv made in either the canvas dam or the 

 metal tapoon. In this way the irrigation stream 

 may ho readily divided. In making hanks for 

 the check method of irrigation, the ground con- 

 tained within each check should first be made as 

 level as possible, by means of a blade, or other 



